Jammu women learn how to earn a living

J&K Women Society has created more than 225 self-help groups for women.

A one-room workshop has become an employment-generation 'centre' in Sumb village in Samba district in Jammu region. Headed by Bimla Devi, a group of six women has been running this workshop of bamboo products and toys for more than a year.

The products made in the workshop have gone a long way in guaranteeing a monthly income of Rs 2,500 for each of the women workers, thanks to NGO J&K Women Society, which is involved in educating and encouraging rural women to set up self-help groups (SHGs).

The NGO, operating in parts of Samba and is also imparting training to the women workers to enhance their assisting them in training. J&K Women Society is operating in parts of Samba and Jammu districts and has succeeded in creating more than 225 SHGs, 'arming' them with skills, liking tailoring, embroidery work, bamboo art, and making toys, pickles, sauce etc.

Nirmal Padha, president of J&K Women Society, says the one-room centre of the SHG in Sumb is not only producing goods but also training other women and young girls of the village and surrounding hamlets.

Earlier, all that these women did was take care of their children and husbands at home. Not anymore. By involving themselves with the SHG, they have been able to supplement the income at home and also impart better education to their children, Padha says.

Fortytwo-year-old Sheela Devi is a mother of four and a member of Sumb's bamboo SHB. Before she joined the group, it was very difficult for Sheela Devi to provide for her family, what with a bedridden husband and little land for cultivation.

But now, after working with the Sumb SHG, Sheela Devi is assured of a monthly income of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 every month.

Women in the rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir are striving hard to raise their economic conditions by connecting themselves with the chain of SHGs that have sprung across the countryside. This concept was introduced five years ago in this region by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

Several such groups supported by NGOs and financial institutions have turned out to be successful entrepreneurial units. Members of some of them have come out as role models by providing financial support to their respective families, thus raising their economic conditions.

According to Nabard's deputy general manager for Jammu Munish, there are about 2,700 NGOs currently working in the state and many of them are performing well. He said the bank sponsors training programme for them with the help of NGOs.

After getting training, these women forms self help groups and seek loan assistance from banks to run their own small ventures. Sometimes they pool their own resources and start work. Marketing facility for these women is, however, an area of concern. Their goods are mostly sold in exhibitions and fairs.